Wherling Lesson 4

[kysseh]

Swithin was most displeased.

It generally took a lot to irk the mountain of a man, but the lack of diligence that some of his students were showing was just downright disturbing. He hated how irresponsible they were being, and for once, it showed. His face was taut, a few noticeable lines around his mouth. If he had his way, there would be no continuation of lessons for those slacking fools, oh no. He would make sure they got moved back to relearn everything. The lives at stake were too great to allow untrained, uneducated wherlings to graduate. No, those silly few were going to stay put.

The tall teen shifted his weight from foot to foot, noting with some pleasure that he was feeling a bit less gawky than he had been. A Turn of working hard here at the weyr had paid off, and he was no longer as much the awkward youth that had left the hold to mind his little brother. Granted, Swithin was still pitifully unfinished as far as physical maturity, but any step in the right direction was a very, very good step, he thought. Slow and steady... that was how he liked things. However, some quicker results in attendance would be appreciated. It was now the time for gathering, and he had left frequent notes of reminder with all of his student pairs. They should be arriving soon.

Ahhh, there they were! They were gathering near the cave again, and he made sure that Swisk had given the heat-image of the location to all of the wherlings. They could guide Theirs to the right spot with this, he knew, if the wherling pairs had been practicing with their image-sharing. He would be able to tell too... a little test, of sorts. Swisk, as if sensing his eagerness, through back his head and gave a bark and a howl, calling his--oh, yes, the skeletal blue wher thought of all the wherlings as his--little ones to him. Come, come! Time to learn, it was!

"I'll start with the lesson, then, since most of you seem to be here," Swithin began once it looked like there were no new arrivals on the horizon. "Today, we're going to practice several skills that you will need to know. The first skill is betweening. This is how whers get from place to place without having to walk there. We won't go very far today. For those of you who understand how it works with dragons, this is... much the same. The images we use are heat-images, though. For example, look through your wher's eyes to look at myself and Swisk. This is the sort of image your wher must see in order to go places."

The young man gestured away a bit to where rather odd shadows rose from the ground, perhaps a gold dragon's length away. Then he put his arms around Swisk's neck and gave the image, and wher and human abruptly vanished and then reappeared down by one of the shadows. Then they vanished again and reappeared in their original spot in front of the wherlings, the young man's arms loosening to drape more affectionately about his bonded now that the need for close contact was past. "I have heated some bricks and stacked them into eight piles of different size and shapes down there. I want you to look at those through your wher's eyes and get a good steady image of one of them. They are very hot, and you should be able to see them clearly. Have your bonded send the image to Swisk. Once everyone has a clear picture, we'll proceed with the next part of the lesson."

It was also a rather clever way of taking attendance, he thought. Easier than trying to identify faces in the dark, certainly. His eyes were good, but they were not yet that good.

Attendance:
Piden of Pidesk
Jermayan of Jermaysk
Rilyer of Rilyesk (II)
Derrin of Derrisk (II)
Meira of Meisk
Ceryl of Cerysk
Hennai of Hensk (III)
Kalushka of Kalushsk (III)

[Avu]

Wherling Lessons again. Only, this one was going to be slightly different in that Meira was going to have to approach a highly uncomfortable subject. Afterwards. She was not going to touch such a tender subject yet. Meisk had noted some change and he, like Zesa, was worried - but then, he didn't know why she'd become to withdrawn to the extent that Zesa did - she'd actually been awake at the time of It. The queen flitter, however, had been fully grown and it hadn't affected her at all, except that she'd become a bit more motherly to Meira, more reluctant to leave her alone even if it meant changing her schedule - which was exactly what she'd done. Flitter, wher, and girl had approached the destination sent to Meisk by Swisk; the pale blue wher had been delighted when the forms of the other wherlings proved their destination right. He and Meira had been trying out the images, but it was nice to know it was actually working. Zesa was curled, as usuall, around her shoulders, her warmth soothing as Meisk pranced ahead of them, his pale, chubby form surprisingly confident as he moved through the night - at least, until he caught sight of the other whers.

Then his step, his bounce, faltered and he skittered back to Meira's side, pressing against her legs as she moved forward, dipping her head to Swithin in the customary gesture, although her eyes were still focused on the ground - as was usual these days. Zesa studied Swithin and Swisk curiously, warbling a soft greeting to both wher and handler as Meira took a step back, letting the others pass her if they wanted to, as Meisk sat down with a soft huff by her legs, head ducked shyly. A wry thought flicked across her mind - they certainly made a great pair, didn't they? Both too shy to speak. Great, just great. Zesa tightened her tail reassuringly around Meira's throat, the golden earring Hrorek had given her still looped lightly around the tip, the cool metal almost icy to the touch against Meira's neck.

At least the lesson was beginning...Meira shifted on her feet, raising her eyes almost reluctantly to Swithin as he began to speak. Between - whers could go between? Oh. Oh dear. She couldn't repress a slight shudder. Between had been exhilarating before, and terrifying before - but she had never directed anyone between. Zesa chirruped softly, warmth from their bond surging through Meira. Between was easy. She would see! You think we can do it, Meisk, dear? she questioned the blue wher softly. There was no hesitation, only a firm assent. It heartened Meira much more than any lecture ever could, and she visibly relaxed, watching as Swithin and Swisk betweened and then returned, using the same mode of transportation. They made it seem so easy...Meira absently reached down, tracing the contours of Meisk's neck and head with one finger as she considered.

Their assignment, now - would they actually between? A prick of fear raced along her spine as Meira squinted at the pile of bricks, and selected one at random - the third one from the right. That one - it would do. Concentrate. Meisk's eyes...Meira reached for Meisk mentally, closing her own eyes, and found it wonderfully easy to see the bricks in question - pride for Meisk rose in her as the blue wher concentrated briefly, focusing in on the bricks, and then offered the image to Swisk. There!

[weaving]

The image that Swisk had sent to Jermaysk made finding their way to the lesson spot much easier. The pair had been practicing their image-sharing almost obsessively since the task had been assigned to them. Whenever he wasn’t on duty, and sometimes even when he was, Jermayan and Jermaysk were constantly sharing what they saw. The healer found seeing through the brown wher’s eyes to be interesting and preferable to what limited images he was able to make out in the middle of the night. Likewise, the brown found himself amused at how limited his bonded’s vision was once Rukbat left the sky.

The pair approached the group at the same time as Meira and Meisk. He offered her a nod in greeting while Jermaysk crooned to his blue clutchbrother. The brown found himself constantly watching over Meisk from afar, especially whenever Derrisk was around. In his mind, Derrisk was dangerous, a creature to be watched at all times lest he attempt to hurt someone else.

Manners had decided to join the lesson yet again, this time perched on Jermayan’s head, claws tangled in the young man’s dark hair to help him keep his balance. The ‘mandyr was oddly silent as they drew closer to Swithin and Swisk, able to feel the anger emanating from the whermaster. Wherman no happy? He queried quietly to Jermayan.

“Some of the wherlings haven’t been showing up,” he murmured in reply, reaching up to run his fingers down Manner’s spine. The bronze trilled at the attention, though he continued to focus on Swithin, who was clearly upset. Why weren’t some of the wher-things showing up? Did they not like Swithin? Was there something bad about the wherman?

Swithin’s introduction to this evening’s lesson caught Jermayan’s attention quickly. They were to learn about betweening tonight? He quickly quashed the wave of nervousness. Plenty of others had mastered this skill before himself, why would there be any problem? He and Jermaysk had been practicing image-sharing constantly so everything should be fine. Is if to prove his point, he easily switched from his own eyes to Jermaysk’s, observing Swithin and Swisk intently. He would need to see everything clearly in his own mind if he and Jermaysk had any hope of living through this lesson.

They watched as Swithin and Swisk demonstrated betweening. See, they looked so effortless. Surely he and Jermaysk would be able to handle such a task. Looking around, he could see that he wasn’t the only one having doubts about this lesson. Others looked just as nervous as he felt. At least he wasn’t alone in this then. He could feel waves of reassurance coming from Jermaysk. The brown was confident in their ability to master this.

Ready to do this? He asked the brown silently as Swithin gave the group their first real task. In response, Jermaysk turned his attention toward the cluster of warm bricks, focusing his attention on one of them before sharing the image with Jermayan. Once the young man had the image firmly in his mind, the brown obediently sent it to Swisk. Jermayan held the image steady in his mind, waiting for Swithin’s next instruction.

[Ruby]

Piden had made it, although he wasn't the first. Pidesk was a little annoyed by that, but the placid Bronze didn't feel the need to do or say anything about it. His was here, and His was not late, and that's all Pidesk asked. Piden, too, felt oddly good to be on time. Lessons were important, and so many people missed them so often- how could they be trusted with Whers if they didn't show up to learn how to Handle them? It wasn't something you just knew, after all, as much as Piden wished it was. But lessons were getting more interesting, and he didn't mind them so much. Plus, Ceryl and Cerysk should be here, and even though Piden didn't know the girl well, it made Pidesk so happy that he couldn't help but be excited. Piden nodded to the others present, oddly enough not feeling up to hitting on Meira, or even Swithin. Pidesk's greeting was more friendly, approaching Meisk calmly so as not to scare him, and then playfully snapping at Jermaysk before retreating to His.

He hadn't realized Whers could go between, but wasn't incredibly surprised. Flits and Dragons could, why not Whers? It occured to Piden that he didn't know if Red could or not, but she wasn't likely to either way. Only days in her company had been enough for Piden to learn that the odd little Green did NOT like to be far from his side, and so she had accompanied him to lessons again. Well, Piden guessed he'd find out, as it was unlikely that he could get Red to detach whether or not she could travel Between.

Getting an image of the bricks wasn't too hard- the pair had been practicing, and their bond had always been moderately strong. Sending it to Swisk was a little more difficult, since Pidesk was a little bit reluctant to touch another Wher's mind so clearly, but soon it was done, the stack of bricks clear in both minds of the pair.

[ladybug]

Rilysk trundled after his Handler, yawning and grumbling about the lesson. Rilyer shook his head. He was a little worried about this lesson, because he knew Swithin probably wouldn't be happy with him. He had been missing lessons, partially because of his own irresponsibleness (not that he was about to own up to it) and partly because of Rilysk's laziness.

He stood near the back as the lesson began, hoping Swithin wouldn't single him out and lecture him. Luckily, the lesson continued as normal. He listened to the lecture, swallowing dryly at the part about betweening. It made him rather nervous. He had gone between with a dragon when he first came to the Weyr, and it had been an unpleasant experience.

Rilysk and handler fine,[/color] Rilysk said stoutly, not worried about the lesson at all. Rilyer nodded and decided to concentrate on the lesson one step at a time. He focused, and soon received the heat image of the bricks. Rilysk relayed it to Swisk, and they waited for the next part of the lesson.